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March 15, 2005

Turning a Potential Pitfall Into a Stepping Stone

Ron Eldard stars as the lead character, Detective Jim Dunbar, in ABC-TV’s new series, "Blind Justice." In the first episode, we see Dunbar racking up at least 12 small successes as the new guy on the investigation team. He’s not only new; he’s also blind.

Dunbar:

  1. Paces out the office to avoid repetition of his first-day stumbling over desks due to a lack of guidance from those present who are sighted.

  2. Makes it clear to his new co-workers he’ll do his own paperwork by using a screen reader on his computer.

  3. Sets things straight with his co-workers about the role of his guide dog, Hank.

  4. Establishes personal credibility (which is questioned due to initial claims by a suspect in a serial killer case who takes advantage of his visual impairment).

  5. Addresses directly the low expectations and the paternal instincts his co-workers and Lieutenant Gary Fisk initially demonstrate in their reaction to his demand for doing field work and carrying a loaded gun while on the job.


  6. Gains a partner, Karen Bettancourt, who initially begrudges the assignment largely because she sees him as a roadblock in her career. She considers him a roadblock because she is taken off an important case involving a serial killer to be his partner and she doesn’t want to end up being his chauffeur.

  7. Earns the first indications from Bettancourt that she respects his skill as a detective.


  8. Shows he can carry his own weight on the investigation team.

  9. Encounters (and addresses directly) open hostility from one of his colleagues, Detective Russo.

  10. Works under the impression that Fisk is looking for an excuse, just one slip up on his part, to take him off the team or out of the field. That doesn’t lock him up; he just proceeds with caution.

  11. Avoids the trap of becoming known as a "hotshot" and "attention grabber" among his co-workers and superiors.

  12. Demonstrates that he’s not above doing grub work.

Quite a feat for one short episode (and technical consultant, Lynn Manning, who is himself blind), but that’s TV.

What struck me is that only five of those 12 hurdles (the first five listed above) are unique due to Dunbar’s visual impairment and job assignment. The other seven are issues "newcomers" (with or without disabilities) often face as they join a new work group.

We heard stories this past week from eSight members about learning how to keyboard, how to write for publication and how to drive a car. Those are "swimming in the mainstream" skills that many people master.

Those acquired "Swimming in the Mainstream" skills become significant stepping stones for people with disabilities because they often require extra effort, more preparation, and more time than ordinary.

But, the more critical stepping stones (gaining support of a partner, carrying your weight for the team etc.) often call for discernment and judgment – matters of character and experience not directly related to an individual’s physical ability or disability.

This concept of turning a pitfall into a stepping stone on the job reminds me of two eSight articles I’d like to recommend to you. They are:

Share the Load: You Don't Have to Be the Weakest Link Due to Your Disability

Turn Your Disability Into an Advantage as a Business Leader

In "Blind Justice," Dunbar shows how to carry your own weight and use your disability as an advantage on a job.

Success is not always reaching for higher rungs but dealing effectively with sometimes not-so-shallow pitfalls which can make a career ladder unstable.

One hard lesson I learned as a member of senior management some years ago, for example, is to not leak confidential information to even the most trusted members of your staff. Your most valuable asset, as an employee, is your reputation for being trustworthy – to those you lead and as well as to those you report.

Our discussion question this week is this:

What pitfall – related or not related to your disability – have you effectively addressed so it has not derailed (but, in fact, propelled) the development of your career?

Jim Hasse


Add your comments to this posting

Posted by Jim at March 15, 2005 11:36 AM

Comments

The pitfall of memory has been a major problem in dealing with my MS symptoms as well as my vision.
I have difficulty with certain vision aspects and have found that the less flourescent light I have in my office the better I can see my computor screen. The other is I have a note pad in the car as well as in my purse and home in the bathroom and kitchen that helps me to remember many of the daily routines I need to do each day. Especially since I am trying to start my own business.

Posted by: nancy at March 17, 2005 12:22 PM

I have been employed with a Governmental agency for over 16 years now. My disability is visual impairment (retinitis pigmentosa). I started out as an office automation clerk typist and I literally had to prove every step of my career ladder climb that I could successfully perform the duties of an assignment as easily as my co-workers could. Now, over 16 years later, I have worked my way up to the point that I'm now a specialist.

Posted by: Carolyn at March 17, 2005 07:49 PM

HI,
I am going to answer both question as I can.
I understand very well about the confidentiality and letting go too personal information about yourself, cuz you want to be honest, be very careful with this! first, you want to size up your audience and see if they are ready or worthy of knowing something of value like this about you, and just like the detective on blind justice, you can make it clear and let people know where you stand, but I think our friend detective needs to not be so harsh and lighten up and stop proving to each team member that he can do it, it was already established he can!!

Posted by: Betty at April 11, 2005 11:10 AM

I've not seen "Blind Justice" yet, but I will definitely get to it one of these days.

One major pitfall that I see in our lives as visually-impaired people, is the notion that with all the proper training, blindness can be reduced to the level of a mere physical nuisance. I see this as a major pitfall simply because visually impaired people come in all different types and there is not just one way to accomplish things as a visually-impaired person.

Often times this is the approach taken by state VR agencies. The "steppingstone" part of this problem lies in educating. We as visually-impaired individuals must take the time to educate the so-called professionals, who at times think they have all the answers, about our own individual capabilities.

Jake

Posted by: Jake Joehl at April 26, 2005 01:18 PM